1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an electronic bay, and, more particularly, to forming U-seams at openings in the electronic bay.
2. Description of the Related Art
Servers may be used for a variety of applications including, but not limited to, audio-visual streaming, managing a network, detecting viruses, and providing a web or mail server. A server may include such components as a power supply, a printed circuit board, a cooling fan, a peripheral component interface, and the like, which may be deployed in an electronics bay. In one embodiment, the electronics bay may include a top panel and a bottom panel that may be coupled to a front panel, a back panel, and two side panels. An opening in the back panel may allow components to be placed in the electronics bay and a cover may be provided to close the opening.
The Server System Infrastructure (SSI, www.ssiforum.org) specification for Thin Servers adopted by such manufacturers as Sun Microsystems, Compaq, Dell, DataGeneral, NEC, Intel, IBM, and Silicon Graphics, defines a one-unit (1U) and two-unit (2U) server electronics bay. According to the SSI specification, the front and back panels of the 1U server electronics bay may each have a vertical dimension of at most 43.2 millimeters and a horizontal dimension of at most 445.0 millimeters. Similarly, the front and back panels of the 2U server electronics bay may each have a vertical dimension of at most 85.9 millimeters and a horizontal dimension of at most 445.0 millimeters.
Depending on demand for the various applications, it may be desirable to deploy a plurality of servers to handle different tasks. To conserve space, the plurality of servers may be deployed in a server system rack, such as an Internet data center rack and the like. The components in the electronics bay may produce electromagnetic interference, such as radio frequency waves and the like. The electromagnetic interference may undesirably affect the operation of other devices, including components in other electronic bays that may be deployed in the server system rack.
To reduce the intensity of the electromagnetic interference that may leak out of the electronics bay, the back panel may be coupled to the electronics bay by a folded U-seam. For example, and as shown in FIG. 1, the SSI specification suggests forming the folded U-seam 100 by folding an approximately 1-millimeter-thick metal sheet 110 to provide an approximately 2-millimeter wide opening 120. A back panel 130 may be coupled to the electronics bay by positioning a portion 135 of the back panel 130 in the opening 120.
However, forming the folded U-seam as suggested by the SSI specification may be difficult with current tools. And even if the folded U-seam may be formed, the folded U-seam may be undesirably thick and may thus limit the area of the back panel 130 that may be available for openings 120 that may provide access to the components in the electronics bay. For example, the folded U-seam may make it difficult to access double-sided printed circuit boards that may be used in the server.